Once a patient and physician establish a physician-patient relationship, then the physician is legally expected to provide care to the patient as long as the relationship exists. Failure to do so may constitute abandonment. Sometimes it is the physician who initiates the discontinuation of the relationship.
Legally accepted reasons for a physician to discontinue a physician-patient relationship:
(1) closure of the practice and/or retirement
(2) repeated noncompliance with appointments that were previously agreed upon
(3) violent, disruptive, or threatening behavior
(4) unreasonable failure to pay for services
(5) chronic drug-seeking behavior or misuse of prescription drugs
(6) lying about past medical history
(7) inappropriate behavior to the physician or staff, including blatant sexual advances
(8) theft, insurance fraud, or other criminal acts committed in relation to the practice
